
Moscow International House of Music (MMDM)
LOCATION:
Moscow (RUSIA)
ARCHITECT:
Architects Y. Gnedovsky, V. Krassilnikov, D. Solopov, M. Gavrilova and S. Gnedovsky
MODEL:
PETRA by Sergio Rojo
MORE INFO:
www.mmdm.ru
The MMDM – Moscow International House of Music – is the biggest music centre in Russia and was built in 2002 following the initiative of Vladimir Spigakov and with the assistance of the Moscow Government. It is part of the reconstruction of Moscow, a city moving away from grey, soviet architecture to a more modern, international style. Located just one kilometre away from the Kremlin, the MMDM was constructed by Turkish developer Enka following the design of of a Russian church with the completed complex evoking a traditional Russian monastery.
The new Moscow International House of Music has a light and airy atmosphere created by huge expanses of structural glazing and at night the building ashes with light reflected in the glass. So much structural glazing was used on the building, in fact, that Russian President Vladimir Putin has described the building as „a crystal cup“ It became not only important music center on a map of the capital, but also the main element of a large architectural ensemble at Kosmodamianskaya quay of the Moscow river: there is a beautiful view of the Novospasskiy monastery from the building.The complex of the Moscow International Music House includes three concert halls. They are set on different levels and have their own entrances. The Svetlanov hall is the largest and can accommodate up to 1699 people, the Chamber hall includes 573 seats and its excellent acoustic properties enables it to hold both recitals and symphonic concerts and finally the Theatre hall with 530 seats. This unique multifunctional hall hosts performances, concerts, ballets, fashion shows and public events. Each of the halls is built on individual design projects. The centre has become a rehearsal base for such orchestras as “Virtuosi of Moscow”, “National Philharmonic of Russia” and “Russian Philharmonic”. The Vladimir Spivakov International Charity Foundation is also located there.
In 2013 our company was awarded with the contract to supply new chairs for the Svetlanov hall – a wonderful customization of our Petra model designed by Sergio Rojo and adapted to the particular requirements of the customer. Firstly, our chairs should be mounted on central pedestal using exactly the same seat centres dimensions of the former seats so all fixing points could not be visible. Then all chairs should have an individual configuration – while sharing arms, every chair should be able to be easily removed when needed! And of course the new chairs should meet or exceed the acoustic conditions of this superb auditorium. Thus, the chair delivered to MMDM was manufactured with a wide round central pedestal welded to a very special steel structure with supports for two arms and integrated tipping mechanism – then the back and the open arms made of solid beech made the rest. We manufactured and installed 12 different types of chairs (combinations of seat centres and heights) specifically created for each of the areas of the auditorium; and all of them with a custom design open arm that enables individual removal.